On Friday I went to the Eurotunnel train to meet Gerhard. Together we embarked on the train (without delay) and went northwards towards the Midlands.

With IBA Germany’s president and friend Gerhard on the Eurotunnel train.

On the way to Stoke-on-Trent we made a little detour to pick one of John Young’s Triumph Trident 50-50 Challenge. I took a picture to the Mallory race track entrance. We arrived in a relaxed mood at our hotel in Stoke where we joined other fellow riders for dinner. The next morning, we gathered at Rick the rally master’s house and received final instructions. As usual, the had a last-minute twist for us: the option to bring him back a bottle of selected beers was not optional, but compulsory! Luckily, I had this in my plan. My route was ambitious, but left me with enough options to shortcut in cases of problems. So I set off for Wales, picked some locations there; got furious about the Garmin sat nav that lead me over single track gravel farm roads instead telling me to turn around; got stuck in some massive road closure where I lost 30 min riding single track roads again trying to find a proper detour; and had a nice riding. Usual things, you could say.

The Dragon in Ebbw Vale, a really nice sculpture. (I took the picture from the internet as I don’t have my rally pictures at hand right now).

After having visited the last location in Wales, it was time for some motorway riding to London, interrupted by a visit to Whitchurch, good for some massive points. I visited the Pinewood film studios west of London and assured my compulsory bonus by buying a bottle of “Death and Glory” ale at the Tring Brewery in….Tring. Just one kilometer away I visited the National History Museum where I had to find the greyhound “Mick the Miller” and take a picture of him. A long walk to the right gallery, but I had asked a guard for the way so this could be done quickly. Now I only had to ride back to the finish. I managed to fit in some extra locations – the Santa Pod race track, a statue in Lichfield…to boost my points. close to the finish, I decided to make a little detour a pick another location. Everything went fine, I even could visit one more last point close to the finish. than I discovered that the bike should have been in the picture, turned around, visited the place again and got the complete picture. In Stoke I visited the Titanic brewery for another 150 points and arrived after 11 hours with three minutes to spare at the finish.

After the scoring (I hadn’t lost any points), I joined the other riders in garden for the usual exchange of anecdotes. After some food and drink, the ceremony was due:

Results of the Brit Butt Light Rally 2018

That clear result came a bit as a surprise for I had left out 1-2 planned locations. I received my certificate and a trophy and was a happy bunny. Thanks to rally master Rick and his last seven rallies, this one was also very nice! Great job!

I returned to the hotel and spent the evening with the other lads that stayed there. The next morning I went with Gerhard towards Folkestone, but not without visiting three locations of the 50-50 challenge: the old BSA factory, Triumph’s old development centre in Kitts Green and the National Motorcycle Museum. There I took a picture of “Slippery Sam”, the Triumph racing bike that keeps the record of five consecutive wins at the Isle of Man TT in the seventies.

Slippery Sam

We took the Eurotunnel train and 2.5 hours I was back home, not without some detour due to all the Belgians returning from the coast. I still had to pack most of my luggage for the big trip, but this was quickly arranged.

The trip to England and Wales (Brit Butt Light 2018).

The next day, I started after lunch. I have mounted the rear crash bars last-minute. They look ugly, but the bike is so heavy with all the luggage, one little slip and a dropping bike would result in a heavy blow to the vacation budget.

Cpt. Hutzlmandl and his “Flying Fortress” (>500 kg).

I hit the road at 32 degrees which accompanied me the whole day. Luckily I was listening to the radio in my helmet so I was aware that there was a massive road blockage on the planned itinerary on the A1 to Bremen. In the end, the Autobahn was completely closed and the retention mounted up to 20 km! But I had chosen to go via the A2 and apart from smaller traffic jams, I arrived quickly in Travemünde where I embarked on the “Peter Pan” to Sweden.

Hello? Anybody here?